To The Grave
by skits
Summary: He eyed her cautiously, his hands resting on either side of her head. "You have to swear you'll never say nothin'." She nodded breathlessly, lifting up softly to whisper in his ear. "This is a secret worth keeping..."
1. The Future's In The Air

"I really appreciate you letting me come to stay, Aunt April." The dull sound of a heavy cardboard box hitting the floor echoed from the guest bedroom, followed by a small mushroom cloud of dust exploding out the door. Abandoning the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she'd been working on in the kitchen down the hall, April poked her head in the room just as her niece broke into a fit of hacking coughs, waving her thin hands in a vain but comical attempt to clear the air. April felt a small smile cross her face as she stepped into the room, shooting the growing pile of unopened boxes an appraising glance. She'd originally been the against the idea of her 17 year old niece coming to visit for the entire summer – there was just so much to worry about. This _was_ New York City after all, and the news never stopped coming, leaving April working obscenely long hours at work practically every day. It just didn't seem right to leave Chelsea alone in the apartment all that time – and the idea of letting her wander around the city alone had set April's skin crawling. And then, of course, there was the more complicated issue of the company April kept. There was no chance that she would go an entire three months with out seeing hide or shell of Mikey, Raph, Donnie or Leo – and there was no way around it, they were a bit hard to explain. Consequently, her automatic answer to Chelsea's request was a staunch 'no'. But it had only taken two teary phone calls, laced with begging, pleading, and promises that she'd 'stay totally out of your way, Aunt April' to convince her to relent. The work situation had been resolved fairly easily, much to her surprise. A short conversation with her boss and an agreement about shorter hours for a brief while had been reached. The guys on the other hand ... well, she hadn't quite gotten around to telling them yet... time had just slipped away from her and before she knew it she was picking Chels up at the airport and the topic hadn't been broached.

"Don't mention it..." April looked up from her own thoughts and shot the thin girl sitting on the bed a smile. "I'm sorry about the mess... I just haven't had company in such a long time. And I haven't really had time to clean ..." She paused and dragged a finger across one of the bed posts, cringing when it came up completely covered in fuzz. "...as you can tell." Chelsea was shaking her head in protest, her long braid shaking violently behind her like a tail as she plopped down on the bed, another cloud of dust floating up from the mattress. April just laughed, and turned her attention towards the boxes. "So do you want to start unpacking? Maybe if we get your stuff out it will liven this place up..." She looked around at the stark white walls and plain furniture. She really had neglected to do much decorating in here, but it seemed like every time she thought she could get started on the project something unexpected came up. Maybe now that Chelsea was settling in for a while they could tackle the task together.

"Actually," Chelsea paused, obviously embarrassed. "... I'm kind of _starving_. I forgot to get breakfast before catching the bus. You know how dad is ... he was so scared I was going to be late we got to the station three hours early." She blew her bangs out of her eyes as April laughed.

"He's been that way since we were kids." A ghost of a smirk crossed her lips as she dusted her hands off on her Levi's. "Well...if you're hungry, how about some real New York pizza, huh?" Chelsea's face lit up at the suggestion and before April could say 'hold the anchovies' the teenager had her jacket on and was waiting anxiously by the front door. April was struck slightly by just how much the girl had changed in the last 17 years. She could still remember the day she'd received the call from her ecstatic older brother, so excited that he was talking faster than she could keep up with. It was a year or two after he'd moved away from the city with his wife, Amelia. The two had come to a mutual decision that New York was no place to raise a family, and had invested in a house out in a small suburban town in Ohio.

His move hadn't shocked April much. He'd always been the nervous sibling. While she'd been a precocious, tenacious child, Andrew had been timid, constantly unsure of himself. The city had done nothing but make him nervous his entire life, and when the chance came to leave it April would have been surprised if he _hadn't _grabbed at the opportunity. Within three months of the move Amelia had become pregnant, and in September she answered the phone to hear that she was an Aunt. He'd named her Chelsea, after their grandmother. She was perfect she'd told him. And looking at her now, swaying by the door, April saw so much of her brother it was almost astonishing.

"Come _on_, Aunt April, let's bone out! I could eat a cow!" She was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, her hands playing with the scrunchie in her hair as April grabbed her keys and coat.

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" She was laughing as they locked up.

It was Chelsea first time in the 'Big City' and April practically had to drag her down the street as she stopped to examine every store window, every street sign, and every swindler within the four blocks they had to walk to their hole in the wall destination. 'ROY'S PIZZA' the awning declared, in bold white lettering. Music blared within and as April pulled the door open, a warm welcoming wave of oregano and cilantro hit Chelsea full on in the face.

"Hey April!" A boy behind the counter looked up from where he was folding boxes and shot the two girls a wave. Chelsea felt herself shrink back slightly to fall behind her aunt. For all her big talk and big city excitement, she was a small town girl at heart still and despite her best efforts, any attempt at being social was severely crippled as it ran into her stubborn wall of shyness. April didn't seem to notice and made her way over to the register, leaning across to give whoever this new person was a hug. "So ... who's your friend?" The boy raised an eyebrow and looked straight at Chelsea, who was attempting to figure out the ratio of black to white tiles in the floor.

"Oh! This is my niece Chelsea. She's staying with me for the summer... Chels?" April cocked her head to the side as she peered across the room at Chelsea, who looked up timidly and shot her what she hoped was a confident smile. "Chels, this is Keno. He's a friend of mine ... and he's a good guy to know if you're hungry while I'm at work." The boy ... Keno, hopped over the counter and wiped his flour covered hands down on his apron so that he could shake with Chelsea, who tried her best to match him grip for grip.

"Nice to meet ya." He smiled at her warmly and Chelsea felt suddenly at ease, a smile of her own spreading out over her lips.

"Likewise, I'm sure." Pulling her hand back, she made her way over to April's side and peered up at the menu as her stomach grumbled loudly.

"Well someone's hungry." Keno was smirking at her as he returned to the boxes he'd been working on prior to their arrival. Chelsea just nodded fiercely, her eyes unwavering from the list of pizza toppings.

April took the liberty of ordering them a plain cheese pie, since her niece looked vaguely overwhelmed by the magnitude of the menu, and after Keno promised to deliver it to their table she pulled Chelsea away by the sleeve to sit in a corner by the window.

"Seriously Aunt April ... you don't even know how much I appreciate all this..." Chelsea said at length, pulling her eyes away from the window and a hooker that was hailing a taxi just outside. "I just couldn't spend the whole summer at home... dad would have driven me completely postal."

"He's got you on a pretty short leash after last summer, huh?" April raised an eyebrow and leaned forward on her elbows as she eyed the younger girl, who had flushed a bright red from the tip of her nose to the top of her forehead.

"You've got no freaking idea! You'd think I'd killed someone or something the way he's been acting. ... I'm tellin' you. One beer! He acted like it was the end of the world. I've been on lockdown ever since and it's been almost a year. He's wound so tight I'm surprised he hasn't snapped yet." This was accompanied by a dramatic eye roll and a casual knuckle crack. "The only reason he even let me out of his sight is because I was going to be staying with you ... but even that was a hard sell. I think he thinks I'm going to run away here or something..."

"You're his baby girl." April teased, leaning back from the table as Keno arrived with their pie. Slipping him some cash, a generous tip included, she patted the top of her piece with a napkin to soak up the extra grease. Chelsea opted for the easier route and dug right in, some of the oil dribbling down her chin in the process. "You want a napkin for that, Wolverine?" Chels grinned sheepishly and grabbed a handful, rubbing at her face before taking another bite. "But, honestly, I mean you had to know he would have a fit if he found out."

"That's just it though! I didn't think he would. I mean come on ... it was one beer. It's not like I was having _sex_ or something. But you know how he is. So, honestly, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. If you hadn't let me come out, you would have been visiting me in an asylum come August." She paused to take a long drag off of her soda before speaking up again. "I really hope I'm not putting you out or anything..."

Now it was April's turn to pause. It wasn't that she was being put out. In fact it was the opposite, but she could help wondering if maybe now was the time to start bringing up the guys. Or should she talk to them first? Maybe they didn't even want to meet Chelsea. She shook her head slightly, both in answer to Chelsea's statement and to the direction of her own thoughts. There was no way they'd turn down the chance to meet someone new and trustworthy. She was sure of it.

"You're definitely not putting me out. I'm glad to have you around. We're going to have so much fun together!" She chewed a bite of pizza thoughtfully before continuing. "But look, there's some stuff you should probably know about..." This statement brought a raised eyebrow from Chelsea, but she remained quiet, allowing her aunt to continue. "Well, I've got some friends... who I'm sure would love to meet you. They usually come around pretty regularly. But ... they're a little, well, different. And it would need to stay our secret" Chelsea shook her head at this statement, waving her hands in front of her as if to tell April not to worry about it.

"Oh don't worry! I won't tell my dad about your boyfriends or anything. I'm all for you know, women being in charge and playing the field. It's the nineties after all, right? Girl Power!" This was all mumbled around a full mouth and left April looking completely horrified.

"No, no, no! Nothing like _that_! They're ... well." There was no way to continue this conversation with the boys there so she chose to cut it short, to be continued at a later date. "...well, you'll just have to see. I'm sure you'll be meeting them soon anyways." She faded off, pushing her crusts away as she watched Chelsea devour her fourth slice. When the girl pushed her empty cup away and patted her stomach, April grabbed her bag and slid away from the table, waiting for Chelsea to slide back into her jacket before standing to head for the door. Shooting a wave to Keno, the twosome headed onto the street just as the sky decided to open with a torrential downpour.

"Shit!" It was a mutual exclamation as they both looked at each other, trying to decide whether to run for it, or wait it out under the awning of Roy's. A loud clap of thunder was all the signal they needed to know that the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon, and that there wasn't much else to do except make a mad dash for home. And just as they'd resigned themselves to stepping out into the storm, they both felt a hand on their shoulders.

"Could you ladies use an umbrella?" It was Keno and he had an oversized umbrella tucked under his arm. Both women shot him a thankful glance and heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

"Well, that's one bout of pneumonia I won't have to deal with." Chelsea said lightly, taking the umbrella and popping it open. Holding it up, she huddled under it with April, who was busy thanking Keno, who was waving of her appreciation playfully. After telling them he'd be around to 'collect' later, the two set out into the rain.

On the way home they talked more about Chelsea's father, who had become even more overbearing since Amelia had lost her battle to breast cancer several years earlier. The death had seemingly effected Chelsea very little ... April couldn't even remember her crying at the funeral, but she also assumed that there was a lot that went on in her brother's house that she never saw. Now that she had the chance to reflect on it more heavily, she was glad that she'd agreed to this visit. It would probably do the girl some good to get away from that stifling house and just relax a little bit.

Now, if only April could relax.

Slamming the apartment door behind them, Chelsea took over the job of locking back up as April headed over to check the answering machine. The first few were fairly uneventful – her boss, a telemarketer, a few call backs about stories, and then Donnie's familiar voice:

'_Uh...Hey April! It's Don. I was just wondering if maybe you could do me a favor? If not it's fine ... I mean I don't want to be any trouble. But I'm totally out of some stuff for my lab and ...I won't give you the list now or anything but if you have the time, give me a call back and I'll give it to you..._'

He was promptly interrupted by Mike's voice breaking through the line.

'_Helloooooooooooooo, babe! While you're at it could you bring some pork rinds, maybe some ding dongs, and I wouldn't say no to a bag of m&m's, maybe a mars bar or three ... DORITOS! Doritos would be great... and..._' There was the brief sound of a scuffle and then Don's voice, slightly breathless, came on again.

'_Anyways! Thanks a lot April! You're the best!_'

"Those your boyfriends?" Chelsea's teasing question startled April, who hadn't realized the girl had moved to stand behind her as she'd listened. She laughed.

"Yep. Those are my boyfriends. I'll call them back later. ...Right now lets get some sheets on that bed of your so that you're not sleeping in the middle of dust city, alright?"


	2. Shadowplay

Chelsea was home alone.

April had gone to work 'for a few hours, tops' and had left very specific, non-deviable instructions that her niece stay put in the apartment until she got back. She'd left at around nine that morning, as Chelsea had been pouring herself some cereal. Now it was almost noon and she'd consumed the entire box of Special K, almost half a carton of orange juice, and three pecan rolls from a box she'd found stashed in one of the cabinets above the fridge. She was stuffed to bursting and _bored_. She'd surfed through all the televisions channels at least twenty times in the past half hour and had found nothing that even remotely caught her interest. And through it all only one thought had crossed her mind ...

Today sucked.

Just as she was about to resign herself to cabinet looting once more, the digital ring of April's phone interrupted her. Diving across the couch she'd sprawled herself out on, her fingers scrambled for the phone, hoping April was on the other end to let her know that she was coming home early.

"Hello?" For only crawling across a six foot couch she sounded as if she'd just wound up a marathon.

Silence. And then a dull click. They'd hung up. Chelsea felt her hopes for company sink. This really sucked. When she'd imagined visiting New York City she'd imagined exploring on her own, window shopping on 5th Avenue and dancing down Broadway. Instead she found herself stuck in a two bedroom apartment with nothing but basic cable, a half stocked kitchen, and her own imagination to entertain her. This wasn't turning out how she'd planned at all...

She shifted to lay back down on the couch once more – maybe a nap would kill some time before April got home. As her head hit the cushions the phone rang again, almost startling her to the floor. Her reach for the receiver this time lacked enthusiasm, and so did her voice as she repeated her greeting.

Silence. Again. And then a quiet cough.

"Hello?" She knew her voice sounded irritated, and she didn't care.

"Uh..." This was followed by a brief pause, which only caused Chelsea to roll her eyes. "Uh... I think I have the wrong number..."

"Well, what number are you trying to reach?" She snapped, trying her best not to sigh right into the phone. It sounded like a teenager on the other end and she was trying her very best to remember that patience was a virtue. She'd gotten her hopes up for an 'I'm coming home' call from April and a wrong number was a bitter disappointment. But she listened all the same as he rattled off the number he was trying to dial and matched it against the house number April had written down for her, in case of emergency.

"No. You have the right number. You're calling for April, right?" Maybe this conversation wasn't a total loss. It could kill a few minutes at least.

"Uh..." Again with the 'uh' – Chelsea was beginning to wonder if there were any other words in his vocabulary. "...yeah. Is she, y'know, home?"

"Oh. No. She's at work still. This is her niece." The familiar scratching sound of someone covering the receiver with their hand was the only response. Tapping her foot in irritation, she waited for the mysterious, and apparently very rude, caller to return.

"Niece?" Finally back and that was all he had to say. Chelsea didn't bother to hide her sigh this time.

"Yeah. Look. You want me to take a message or not, buddy? I got things to do." This was a lie, of course, but she was quickly boring of the current conversation.

"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Sorry, dudette. Could you just tell her Mikey called?" Her eyes widened suddenly in recognition and her scowl turned to a grin. So this was one of the 'boyfriends'.

"So _you're_ Mikey! I heard your message the other day." There was an embarrassed laugh on the other end.

"Oh. Heh. Yeah. That's me." It was obvious that he was the one that wanted to go now, and Chelsea decided to let him off the hook...this time, but there was no escaping the fact that if her Aunt had friends her age, Chelsea was going to be insisting on meeting them as soon as possible. Maybe then she'd have someone to share her Special K with.

"Well, I'll tell her you called, Mikey." They exchanged the common courtesy goodbye niceties, and hung up just as she heard keys scraping in the lock. "Hey, Aunt April." Chelsea didn't move from the couch as her Aunt dropped her purse on the kitchen table. "You just missed a phone call from that Mikey guy. He wanted you to call him back I think."

"Oh?" April collapsed onto the couch next to Chelsea, leaning her head back against the cushions. "You talked to him?" She raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.

"Yeah..." Chelsea raised an eyebrow of her own. "Should I not have? You never said if I should answer the phone and I figured..." April shook her head and waved away the apologies, so Chelsea picked up where she'd left of. "...yeah, I talked to him though. He seemed pretty bummed you weren't home."

April sighed and pushed herself back up, obviously fighting her better judgment to just bury herself in the couch cushions and take a nap.

"Well, I guess I'd better call him back. Give me a minute and we can go to lunch. Are you hungry?"

Chelsea eyed the empty cereal box and crumpled pecan roll wrappers for a long minute.

"Starving."

Chelsea had opted to ignore most of April's conversation with Mikey, focusing her attention on her cartoons instead. None the less, it was hard to ignore the fact that her name was brought up several times. Obviously, they were discussing some kind of meeting and even though Chelsea told herself not to listen in, she couldn't help the feeling of butterflies in the deep pit of her stomach. Maybe if she made some new friends April would let her go out and explore with them during the day. She wasn't sure if she could take much more of the "apartment lock down" situation. Fifteen minutes into the conversation, Chelsea abandoned the couch in favor of getting ready to go out for lunch. Despite her enormous breakfast she was suddenly hungry again, and she was hoping they'd be going for pizza again. They definitely didn't make pies like that back in Ohio.

When she finally emerged, April was off the phone and apparently ready to go as well, with her purse shouldered and her keys in her hand. When she suggested heading to Ray's again, Chelsea's whole face lit up. The walk went by much more quickly this time now that Chelsea wasn't stopping to investigate every sidewalk crack on the way. In fact, she lead the way most of the time. April was impressed ... maybe she knew could find her way around better than she thought. This idea was shot to hell when Chelsea asked how much further it was to 23rd when they were standing on 21st. But, lack of math skills aside, they managed to make it to Ray's under Chelsea's direction without getting lost as much as once.

April ordered as Chelsea found a seat in the crowded restaurant, claiming a table in the far back corner.

"So, the guys are thinking they want to meet you. Since you're going to be here for a while, you know?" April handed Chelsea's Coke across the table as she took a seat. Chelsea perked up a bit, and a frown immediately crossed April's thin lips. "Listen. I already told you they were ... different. I don't want you getting any ideas that I was just kidding around. You've never met guys like this in your life, and if I tried to explain it I guarantee you wouldn't believe me in a hundred years. But I just want to try to prepare you for it..." She was interrupted by Keno appearing with their slices. He smiled over at Chelsea and she found herself suddenly interested in folding her napkin into a paper crane. "Chels is meeting the guys tonight." April announced as Keno placed her plate in front of her. His eyes widened.

"Oh, really?" He looked over at Chelsea once more, and she raised her head to give him a slight smile. "Man, are you in for a trip." He laughed a little bit and took the tip that April handed to him. "I'll see you around." This was directed to Chelsea, who smiled again, a bit more boldly this time.

* * *

"I just don't think it's a good idea, Leo." Raphael was sprawled across the lair's couch, flicking through the channels without really watching. "She's only here for a few months, right? What's the point of causin' trouble?" Leo stared at his brother incredulously. He couldn't believe that Raph, the troublemaker, the one who consistently complained about living in the shadows, was trying to veto his vote that they extend the olive branch to April's niece.

"Come on, Raph. She's April's niece..."

"So? I don't care if she's her sister! I'm tellin' ya, Leo. I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Dude. She sounded hot. And if she's anything like April, I'm sure she'll be cool." Mikey had looked up from the Parcheesi tournament he and Don had been engaged for the past three hours. "Give it a chance. What's the worst that can happen?" He felt rather than saw Raph's eye roll. "Whatever, man. Stay home then. I'm going."

"Me too." Don piped up over the rattling of his dice.

"Look, you guys go on ahead. And when she screams her head off lookin' at you, don't tell ya I didn't warn ya." COPS was on and he'd finally turned most of his attention to the television. Leo grimaced and turned away from his brother. Arguments like this were becoming more and more frequent, and Leo's usually strong sense of patience was beginning to wear thin. The only thing to do now, however, was ignore him because there was absolutely no point pushing the fight any further.

"Everyone else in?" Distracted nods from Don and Mikey answered his question and the subject was closed. Raph could choose to come or stay at home and sulk – Leo couldn't care less. April was their friend – one of the only friends they had – and if she said that her niece was trustworthy, he gave her the benefit of the doubt. That's what friends were all about, weren't they?

* * *

"I get it, Aunt April!" Chelsea blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and threw herself down on the couch with an exasperated sigh. April had spent the past fourty-five minutes reminding her over and over again that her friends weren't exactly 'normal' but they were still 'really great guys' and that once Chels got over the initial shock she'd love them. She'd refused to go into detail about what she meant by 'not normal' and Chelsea had been delighting herself throughout the entire lecture by thinking up the most gruesome possibilities – maybe they were war heroes with no limbs, or maybe they were scientists who'd been horribly disfigured by acid, or perhaps they'd been involved in a tragic factory accident. Her mind was still running a mile a minute when a soft knock at the window distracted her from her thoughts, and April from her lecture. ...the window, huh? These guys really must have been gnarly looking to have to come in the fire escape.

April looked nervously at the window and then back at Chelsea as if she were afraid to go through with the plan, and then she made her way to the kitchen and pushed the glass pane open.

"Hey, guys!" Her voice was soft and unsure. Chelsea sat up straight on the couch, tilting her head in vain trying to make out the figures huddled in the dark outside. Realizing that from where she was seated she was never going to get a good view of things, she pushed herself up off of the cushions and made her way over to the kitchen counter, leaning her elbows against it and resting her head in her hands.

"Hola, babe! Lookin' good!" She recognized the voice she'd spoken too on the phone earlier and craned her neck even further, anxious to get her first glimpse of 'Mikey', but when she saw the foot, and then the hand, and then the oversized head, and finally the shell squeeze through the window, she felt her excitement drop to a cold pit of shock in her stomach. And then he was turning towards her, his head cocked to the side as he studied her and she couldn't seem to force a single word past her lips. "Hey, dudette. You're Chelsea, huh? Nice to meet ya face to face..."

Chelsea didn't respond, her mouth opened in a vain attempt to force out a greeting but all that came out was a squeak and then her eyes were rolling back in her head and before anyone could realize what was happening she'd hit the floor.

"Way to go, Michelangelo!" Donnie snapped, sliding in the window next, watching April hurry over to attempt to revive her niece. "I told you I should have gone first!" As the two began to bicker, Chelsea's eyes flickered back open. April shot her a sheepish smile.

"Are you gonna be ok? You conked your head on the floor pretty good there..." Chelsea just stared at her, her eyes still wide as her mind tried to decide if she had really seen what she thought she'd seen. "...I told you they were different..."

"Man, April. You weren't kidding..."


End file.
